i have way too much time on my hands

So I've been looking for a way to fill the space between the 4th season of SYTYCD? and the 2nd season of SYTYCD? Australia. How better to do so than watching the 1st season of SYTYCD? Canada!!

Differences:

Who is Leah Miller? I can tell you who she is NOT. She is not Canada's answer to Cat Deeley. She's not terrible, but she's not adorable or sexy either...both of which Cat and the Australian host, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, have in spades. She's definitely more dolly bird than living doll. Apologies to any Canadians who think she's the bees knees.

The judges are waaaay kinder than the US or Aussie judges. The Canadian judges are always carrying on about how amazing the dancers were and sometimes gloss over lack of technique to rave about entertainment value or how hot they looked. They remind me of Marcia Hines on Australian Idol ~ the one judge who will never say anything negative and therefore is completely unhelpful to the contestants in knowing how to improve.

There are two regular judges, Tre Armstrong and Jean Marc Genereux (he often choreographs for the US show), and two guest judges that change each week. Tre makes the most intelligent/useful comments and is very articulate when explaining dance moves or genres. Jean Marc is hilarious and sweetly over-enthusiastic. He's a ballroom expert, but that's not my favourite things about him. His English isn't perfect (not that that should be an issue on a Canadian show - he speaks one of their national languages perfectly) and he sometimes messes up in the cutest ways (much cuter if you've ever taught English as a second language). My favourite so far is when he told a dancer they were "a force to be recognised". :) That should become a saying.

The voiceover guy that introduces Leah each week sounds like he's been chewing hot gravel. Kinda weird. And one last difference is that it's free to vote from your landline. SMS still costs, but it is possible to vote for free, which is pretty cool.

I've already watched about five shows, so be prepared to see episode highlights posts way too many times this week, the first in about ten minutes. But you'll get to see some cool dancing and choreography as a result!